Power, water, primary agenda; no Janata Darbar at Delhi Secretariat

Announcements to halve electricity bills, free lifeline water and reviving the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) are likely to be the first announcements of the new city government. The party will not organise a Janata Adalat this time at the Secretariat, but find a way to address public grievance, all the same.

“The cabinet will announce its decision to halve electricity bills and free lifeline water at the earliest,” said Nagendra Sharma, spokesperson of the AAP. The new government will continue the subsidy till the CAG audit is completed, apart from expediting the amount.

“The subsidy will not go directly to DISCOMS, but will go through the Delhi government’s Delhi Transco Ltd DISCOMS, due with over Rs 3,500 crore to DTL. Most of the subsidy would be adjusted to this pending amount,” said Ashish Khetan.

The relief would come for consumers using up to 400 units of power, much like the earlier tenure, benefitting around 80 per cent electricity consumers. Similarly, the announcement on water will be implemented and each household will get 20,000 litres of water for free, even if a litre is consumed beyond this, the price for the entire amount will have to be paid.

“There will not be a Janata Darbar, but a minister will be deployed once in a week at our party office to address the grievances of people,” said Sharma. The first ever Janata Darbar of the previous AAP government had received much criticism as the crowd proved unmanageable.

The party is also trying to find out modalities to implement the promise of CCTV cameras. According to the research wing of AAP, a CCTV camera with 24 hours memory costs around Rs 5,000. “The entire arrangement for a CCTV room, computer and operator will cost around one lakh rupees per annum,” said a member of the research team of AAP. He further added that market associations and RWAs will also be involved to minimise the cost.

The team is also considering three models for free wi-fi – free for an hour and chargeable after that; another could be free up to a certain band width, or including private partners for advertisements to share the cost. “The entire project would cost around Rs 200 crore per annum,” said Ashish Khetan. For public toilets, the new government is considering the ‘built and operate’ model with advertisement rights to private companies.